Never Planned On You
by XLucyInTheSkyX
Summary: One-Shot from the Newsies Musical with Corey Cott as Jack Kelly. 'I Never Planned On Someone Like You' scene and a little extra.
1. From One Shot To Novel

Jack took the steps two at a time to reach the gate that led to a balcony hanging close to the stage. It was one of the best seats in the house which was usually to expensive for the usual patrons so Meda usually sent him there when he decided to drop in. But tonight was different.

He caught sight of those loose brown curls sitting in his seat and he felt a grin pull up at his cheeks.

"Well hello again." He said laying the charm on as thickly as he dared.

The girl started in her seat and turned towards the disturbance. When she saw his face it clicked in her mind why he sounded so familiar. It was that newsboy who tried to charm her into buying a newspaper earlier that day.

"_This_ is a private box." She said indignantly. She didn't have time to fend off his advances. Katherine was reviewing the vaudeville below for The Sun's sunday edition and she didn't need any distractions.

"You want me to lock the door?" Jack smiled suggestively as the door closed softly behind him."Twice in one day, you think that's fate?" He relaxed against the railing as she protested.

"Go away." She said firmly facing away from him. Katherine stared intently down at the show trying to ignore him. "I'm working." She told him trying to hint that he was distracting and unwanted.

"A working girl!" He teased. "Doing what?" Jack propped his foot up on the other chair in the box and leaned against the railing trying to face the girl who tried so desperately to turn away from him.

"I'm reviewing the show for the New York Sun." She informed him shortly. This boy would just not leave her alone.

"Oh!" He exclaimed with genuine interest. He pointed to himself, "I work for The World."

"Oh, somewhere out there someone cares!" She answered sarcastically if not condescendingly. "Go tell them, Go!" She shooed him away as if he were a stray dog.

This seemed to draw Jack in all the more. "Nah, the view is _much _better here." He smirked.

She sighed with defeat. "Please go, I'm not in the habit of speaking with strangers."

He paused for a beat. "Oh, well you're gonna make a lousy reporter then." He smirked cockily again, pleased with his wit.

"Name's Jack Kelly." He thrust out his hand with that coquettish grin still plastered on his face.

"Is that what it says on your rap sheet?" She asked ignoring his gesture. He scoffed in pleased disbelief at her spunk.

"A smart girl," He said with a crooked smile. He swung lightly against the railing of the private box in the theatre. Down below them they could hear the whispers of the other patrons. "I like smart girls." He said with a cocky chuckle. She turned away from him with an indignant huff, but not before he caught a hint of a blush on her cheeks. "Beautiful, smart, independent…" Jack listed as he stared at the back of her head. Her loose brown curls hung down the middle of her back.

"Do you mind?" She finally screamed standing up.

"Hey! SHH! Be quiet up there!" A chorus of male voices called up at them.

"You got in for free," Medda called up, "So I expect you to pay attention!"

Katherine turned beet red as she stuttered and apology.

"Sorry Meda." He called back down to her with a wink.

Katherine sat back down and wrote furiously into her notebook desperately trying to ignore the handsome cocky newsboy that kept pestering her.

Jack leaned back on the railing as he watched the girl.

"_I ain't got use for moonlight or sappy poetry." _He paused. And turned away.

_"Love at first sight's for suckers," _He said harshly, "_Or at least it used to be."_ He amended. "_Look girls are nice once or twice till I find someone new." _He turned back to look at Katherine. "_I never planned on someone like you."_

He pulled out the only paper he couldn't sell that day and a pencil he kept in his front pocket. He started sketching lightly in the corner the girl in front of him.

"_I've got no use for moonlight," _He sketched the soft curves of her lips, round and soft. "_Or sappy poetry." _He finished rounding out her eyes and began working on the loose curls that framed her face. "_Love at first sight's for suckers,"_ He reminded himself. "_Or at least it used to be."_

"What are you doing?" She asked standing up, trying to peek at his sketch.

"Quiet down." Jack scolded teasingly, holding the newspaper away from her. "There's a show going on."

"You are the most impossible boy-" She started angrily.

"Shhh." Jack hushed with a finger to his lips. "Ever!" She hissed softly. She sat back down and Jack smiled at her turned back. He finished the last lines of her face.

"_I never planned on someone like you." _ He left the newspaper behind on the seat next to her while she was distracted by the last notes of the show and left the room quietly.

Katherine turned in time to see him disappear down the stairs. She jumped up to chase after him but caught sight of the newspaper he'd left behind. She picked it up slowly studying the drawing. It was her! She smiled softly at the sketch. He wasn't bad not at all. She shook herself.

"Stop it Katherine, he's no good." She looked at the sketch one more time before she left the theatre. Daddy would be waiting for her.


	2. Santa Fe

**A/N So... It's finally here, what you guys have been waiting for. The novelization of Newsies! Now I know there might be some discrepancies with lines and other stuff but I had to fill in the blanks a lot and sometimes its hard to understand what the actors are saying. This is from the actual Broadway performance so I try to stay true to it as much as possible. I hope you guys enjoy. Leave a review so I know what you guys think. Tell me how I'm doing and Enjoy!**

Jack Kelly opened his eyes and saw the light of the muted stars blinking faintly back at him. A loud clatter caught his attention and he propped himself up on his elbows. What the hell was Crutchy doing?

"Where are you going?" He sighed tiredly rubbing his eyes. "Morning bell ain't rung yet. Go back to sleep."

The boys had taken to sleeping on the rooftop during the summers when the weather allowed it. Jack's cramped and dirty apartment was unbelievable stuffy and neither boys wanted to stay in the sweltering heat when such an agreeable alternative existed.

To say it was _his_ apartment was also a liberty they took. The old apartment building had been abandoned after it went out of business. With the multitude of strikes nobody could pay the rent so the tenants left one by one. The boys had been squatting there for the better part of three months.

"I want to beat the other fellas to the street." Crutchy said pulling on his vest and cap. He limped Over to the corner and picked up a ragged crutch which he placed under his armpit. "God forbid anyone should see I ain't walking so good today." He said bitterly.

"Aw c'mon, you know how many guys fake a limp for sympathy?" Jack asked him as crutchy eased himself towards the ladder that led to a thin alleyway shrouded with smoke from the neighboring hookah lounge.

"That bum leg of yours is a gold mine." Jack said with a tight smile. He stood up quickly not liking the way Crutchy struggled with his crutch on the side of the building. He picked up the sketch he'd been working on the night before and put it in the professional art tube that he'd nicked from a failing art supply store a couple blocks down. No one had the need for art supplies these days. Not when they needed bread on the table.

"So? What's the big deal. If I can't make it on my own they'll lock me up in the refuge for good." Crutchy reminded him miserably. Jack frowned. Crutchy was only fifteen unlike himself who would be turning eighteen and three months. Crutchy Wasn't even close to being of age so if the city got wind that he couldn't survive on the streets like him and the rest of the boys... Crutchy would be locked up in that hell until he was eighteen or until he snuffed it.

Crutchy turned and tried to get down the ladder. "Well be a pal and help me dow- ahh!" Jack's heart stopped when crutchy slipped and hung to the ladder by one hand swinging dangerously from the rooftop. He jumped and grabbed Crutchy's other hand and pulled him up.

"You want to bust your other leg?" He asked laughing with relief to see that his friend was fine and just spooked.

"No, I want to go down." He said flatly rolling his eyes. That Crutchy, leave it to him to bounce back seconds after a near death experience.

"You'll be down there soon enough." Jack promised. "Take a moment to drink in my... penthouse!." He said with mock pride. "Dive into the stinkin' streets of New York." He looked down into the alley Crutchy almost fell to.

"You're crazy." Crutchy wrinkled his nose and stood up. Stinking was an understatement.

"What, Don't like that breath of fresh air?" Jack teased. "Don't like seeing the sky, and them stars?" He added almost dreamily.

"Yeah you're seeing stars alright." Crutchy teased back.

"Them streets down there," Jack started seriously. "They sucked the life right outta my old man."

Crutchy nodded. This was always how Jack started his rants, he had heard the story many times.

"Three years of rotten jobs, stomped on by bosses. When they finally broke him they tossed him to the curb like yesterday's paper." Jack shook his head. "They ain't doing that to me." He promised.

Crutchy shook his head. "But everyone wants to come here." He told Jack. And it was true, the land of opportunity and all that jazz. Not to mention New York being the business capital of the world.

"Well New York's fine for those who can afford it." Jack allowed. "And with big strong doors to lock _it_ out." Jack didn't have to tell crutchy what _it _was. They knew, it meant them. The street rats, the poverty and the crime.

"But i'll tell you Crutchy, there's a whole other way out there." Jack said looking out at the horizon beyond the city lights and the famous New York skyline. "You can keep your small life in the big city, give me a big life in a small town." He looked back at Crutchy whose eyes still were reserved not quite buying what Jack was selling. But Jack -if he was anything- was a salesman, and sell he would.

"_They says folks are dyin' to get here. Me I'm dyin' to get away, to a town out west that's spankin' new. And while I ain't never been there, I can see it clear as day. If you want," _He looked at Crutchy and smiled. "_If you want i bet'cha you could see it too._

_"Close your eyes!" _Jack walked over to Crutchy and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "_Come with me! Where its green and clear and pretty." _Crutchy's eyes were closed and a small smile was pulling at his lips. Jack looked at the cityscape again and saw not the stinking wasteland pretending to be shining utopia, but a rolling pasture and a small bright white town in the distance.

_"And they went and mad a city outta clay."_ Jack laughed at how fantastic it sounded. "_Why_,_ the minute that you get there folks'll walk right up and say..."_ Jacks mirth died and turned soft and forlorn. "_Welcome home, welcome home son to Santa Fe." _Jack licked his lips and remembered where he was and what he was doing. He gave Crutchy a good natured pat on the back and smiled when Crutchy opened his eyes. _"Plantin' crops, splittin' rails, swappin' tales around the fire, 'Cept for Sunday when you lie around all day. Ain't that neat? Livin' sweat in Santa Fe."_

_"_Got no folks here?" Crutchy asked him.

"Got no folks nowhere." Jack told him. He paused and looked over. "You?" He asked carefully. They had never spoken about it. None of the boys ever spoke of their folks. To painful.

"I don't need folks." Crutchy laughed dispelling the tension and limped over. "I got friends." He told Jack patting him on the back.

Jack looked over at his friend whose face was split by a huge grin. "Hey how's about you come with me? Hey no one worries about no gimp leg in Santa Fe. You just hope a Palomino, you'll ride in style!" Jack said trotting around the rooftop like a horse.

"Picture me ridin' in style!" Crutchy laughed.

"Hey, I bet a few months of clean air, you could toss that crutch for good!" Jack told him. They both grinned and shouted into the sky.

_"Santa Fe, you can bet. We won't let them bastids beat us. We won't beg no one to treat us fair and square. There's a life that's worth the livin', and I'm gonna do my share."_

"_Work the land, chase the sun!" _Jack laughed as if he didn't have a care in the world.

_"Swim the whole Rio Grande just for fun!" _They both said laughing.

"_Watch me stand! Watch me run..."_ Crutchy's smile fell and the whole world came crashing back down. The city blared and they remembered how far away their dreams were. Crutchy limped away and Jack sighed.

"Hey," He called. When Crutchy didn't reply he followed the boy and said again. "Hey, _Don't you know that we's a family?" _He asked the boy and hugged him when Crutchy didn't turn."_Would I let you down? No way. Just hold on, kid, till that train makes Santa Fe."_

A bell tolled and Jack groaned. "Time for dreaming's done. Guys!" He bellowed into the stairwell that opened up down to the rooms as he pulled on his button down and newsies cap. "Speck! Racer! Henry, Albert, Elmer! Let's get a move on boys!" He and Crutchy weren't the only ones squatting in that building.

"Those papes ain't gonna sell themselves!" He called. He could hear the boys begin to bicker and groan as they woke up. They had a long days work ahead of them.

**P/N Soooo... What did you think!? Leave a review and hopefully I'll be able to get the next chapter out by the end of the week. Hope you liked it and can't wait to give you the next chapter.**

**Love,**

**Lucy**


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